We received a new fragrance at work that I am really wanting to get my hands on. It’s Tocca Touch and it’s sooo nice. With notes of tiare flower, pomegranate, and rizzi balsam, it’s spicy and sweet and softly floral all at the same time.

Isn’t the bottle beautiful? I love how heavy the glass is, it has a real weight to it that feels nice when you pick it up.

I must say that I am very impressed with Tocca. I’d love to try their candles too.

I have a couple of mark’s Juice Gems and I’m really fond of them. They’re nice and smooth, with decent pigmentation (at least on the darker ones). When I saw that mark had a cute holiday trio, I had to add it to my wishlist.

It’s here, in Creme Brulee, Chocolate Fondue, and Buttercream Brioche. They sound and look really yummy!

Here at Claire’s Beauty Central (aka My House) we like to shop at places like Whole Foods and New Seasons Market. Thanks to an interest in community-building and sustainability, we decided it was worth the extra cost to buy local and/or organic foods when given a choice. Plus, after you start shopping in these amazingly good-smelling and pleasantly-staffed stores, it’s hard to go back to “conventional” grocery stores. We’ve found ways to make it affordable, namely by cutting back on pre-packaged and convenience foods.

In my wanderings through these awesome stores, I am inevitably drawn to the personal care aisles – of course!! Just like the growth and success of organic foods has exploded in recent years, so too has the growth in the “natural” personal care industries. While I do think (once you research the actual ingredients in cosmetics) that a lot of these products are mostly fluff and marketing, some brands have risen to the top that I either have tried, or want to try.

Jason Natural used to offer shampoos that didn’t really grab me – the packaging was kind of dull. They needed a makeover. They got one! The new Natural Salon Hair Care looks great, and actually was the impetus I needed to examine the line closer. I picked up the formerly dull-seeming Natural Sea-Kelp Shampoo (under Everyday Hair Care) and I love it! My only fear is that it is going to be replaced by the Plumeria & Sea Kelp Shampoo in the Salon line – it’s more expensive. I’m intrigued by the styling products – this is an area that was definitely lacking until very recently.

Desert Essence is another company that seems to have branched out recently. Formerly, I associated this line only with tea tree oil products. Since I don’t care AT ALL for the scent of tea tree oil, it wasn’t for me and I didn’t investigate much further. But the launch of a whole organic line, featuring some delectable hair care and body care products has shed a new light on this company. Me want. Check it out on their website.

Last, but not least, is Aura Cacia. Several years ago they produced a line of lavender essential oil body sprays, blended with other essential oils. I purchased several from Mother Nature during a sale, and didn’t think much more about Aura Cacia. Fast forward to now, and suddenly I’m noticing how cool their body products look. They have new aromatherapy mists (although I’m sad the original lavender ones are gone, they rocked), as well as a slew of other cool products. I’ve tried some of the foam baths (nice!) and will continue to try things from this line.

Overall, I like the direction that this industry is taking. I feel like the products and packaging are becoming more appealing to a broader audience, which is good for everyone.

I promised I’d review the new Cover Girl blush I picked up the other day. I’ve tried it two times now, and overall, I’m pleased.

The shade I purchased is Pure Romance, which is a very light pink color. I’m having trouble finding it online, but you should be able to find it in stores. It will likely be in a separate seasonal-type display. It comes in loose powder form, in an old-school tub with a fluffy poof instead of a brush. I pretty much ditched the poof, except for maybe using it on the decollete.

It goes on super-sheer, with barely any color at all on my slightly-darker-than-fair skin. If you were depending on this as your only blush, unless you are really porcelain, it will be too light. If you want it as a highlighting powder, which I do, it’s awesome! Because I had to have “sparkly cheeks” for a special event at work, I mixed it with Pout’s Shimmer Dust in Fairy Dust and used the combo over a smidgen of bronzer. I actually loved the effect and might have to snag a Shimmer Dust of my own (I used a sample).

The next time I wore it without the sparkle dust, but still over bronzer (Cargo Cosmetics Bronzer – Medium) and I am really happy with the effect. It’s nice for a sheer glow without being over-the-top.

For the price, it’s a purchase I’m happy with.

I got a quickie mention in Allure Magazine’s December issue, in the cult favorites article. So cool!

The backstory: I post fairly regularly at Stylehive, whenever I find cool stuff on the web, or when I try great products at work. I don’t really know the details, but apparently this is how Allure found my quote about Bourjois Intensely Luminous Waterproof Cream Eyeshadow – which is the bomb, btw.

So… yay! It’s fun seeing my name in print…

I was cruising through Fred Meyer today and noticed that Cover Girl had some pretty cosmetics for the holidays. You can see them here. I went ahead and snagged a TruBlend Naturally Luminous Blush in Pure Romance – It’s a loose powder not unlike the Bare Escentuals’ Rose Gossamer powder. Not sure if it’s as sparkly though, I’ll find out when I open it. Also, it comes with a big poof instead of a brush.

I plan on wearing it tomorrow, though, so I’ll report back.

I’ve posted before that I’m growing my hair out, from a short-short cut to a future length around my shoulders. I’ve got a pretty decent shape to it (thanks to a co-worker in beauty school) but it still has a tendency to get flat and lose its shape after I style it. I was using Aveda Light Elements Defining Whip but it’s a little bit overkill for what I wanted. On a whim, I picked up Sunsilk Anti-Flat Weightless Volumizing Creme at the drugstore. It has a lotion-like consistency, and while the directions call for using one pump, I use two. It provides a decent amount of volume with a blow dryer, although not a lot of hold. I set it with a little hairspray, and it’s about perfect. I’m not sure how it would do with longer hair, but for my just-brushing-my-collar length, it’s great.

I also decided to give Earth Science Almond-Aloe Facial Moisturizer a try as my latest facial moisturizer. It’s not oil-free, as it contains almond, jojoba and canola oils. However, these are very light, non-comedogenic oils and I figured it would be worth a try. In addition to the light oils, it also contains aloe vera, hyaluronic acid (a potent moisturizer), squalane (from olives, another moisturizer), alpha hydroxy acids, and antioxidant vitamins. So far, I’m really liking it. I love how silky-smooth it feels, and so far my skin seems to agree with it.

Here’s a quick round-up of the fun stuff I’m lusting after.

This train case is really cute. It’s lightweight for travel, but still quite sturdy.

I finally got brave and spritzed my wrist with Elixir de Merveilles from Hermès. It’s described as having notes of orange peel, vanilla, tonka bean, sandalwood, and ambergris. I’ve also seen chocolate mentioned in a few places. Needless to say, it’s very unique. It is also very long-lasting, one of the few fragrances I’ve tried that lingers for hours. I still can’t tell if I absolutely adore it or just like it, but I think I probably will end up adoring it. I’ve been on the hunt for a truly unusual and unique fragrance for a while now (one that is also reasonably affordable and available locally) and this one is certainly that.

Also an enchanting fragrance: Tocca Stella Eau de Parfum. It’s a citrusy fragrance, a little on the light side (I tend to prefer my citrus fragrances hit me over the head with it, but that’s just me) but I love how heavy and pretty the bottle is. I have to find somewhere that sells the other Tocca fragrances – I want to sniff them too!

At the kitchen sink is a new bottle of method handwash: peppermint vanilla. method makes what are quite possibly my favorite cleaning products – no small feat, since I pretty much hate cleaning. But I love to use method products, and anything that makes cleaning a little more pleasant is a-okay in my book. The handwash is nice – doesn’t leave my skin feeling dry like most do.